Calabaza en Tacha (Mexican Candied Pumpkin in Piloncillo)
Wedges of whole pumpkin, skin and all, simmered for two hours in a dark syrup of piloncillo, cinnamon and orange until they turn deep brown and glossy, the candied pumpkin of Mexico's Day of the Dead.
In Mexico, the pumpkin is not baked into a pie. It is candied whole. Piloncillo is unrefined cane sugar pressed into cones. The usual pumpkin is the calabaza de Castilla; Mexico City's Excélsior, citing the Government of Mexico, says it is planted between March and May and the first harvests come around mid-October, just in time for the November altars. The name is said to come from the tacha, the big copper cauldron of the old sugar mills where cane juice was boiled down, but that story comes from food writers rather than documents (see Rules).
Why it works the kitchen science
Skin side down, scored
The skin protects the tender flesh from the hot bottom of the pot while the cuts let the syrup soak in from the outside too.
Lid on, then lid off
The covered hour steams the pumpkin soft in the syrup; the uncovered hour boils off water so the syrup thickens and candies the surface.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the piloncillo, water, cinnamon stick, orange juice and orange rind in a large, heavy pot wide enough to hold the pumpkin in one or two layers. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to medium-low and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the piloncillo has dissolved.
- Step 2
While the syrup simmers, scrub the pumpkin, cut off the stem, and cut it from top to bottom into wedges 1 to 2 inches wide. You can leave the seeds and strings on; Jinich likes them. Score the skin of each wedge a few times with a paring knife so the syrup can get in.
- Step 3
Take the pot off the heat and set the wedges in the syrup skin side down. Bring back to a simmer, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, spooning syrup over any pieces that stick out every 15 minutes.
- Step 4
Uncover and simmer 1 hour more, still spooning syrup over the top, until the pumpkin is deep brown, soaked through and very tender.
- Step 5
Turn off the heat and let the pumpkin cool in the pot; it keeps absorbing syrup and the syrup thickens as it cools.
- Step 6
Serve warm, at room temperature or cold, with plenty of syrup. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to about a month (Jinich).
Calabaza en Tacha (Mexican Candied Pumpkin in Piloncillo)
Serves 12 · about 4 quarts of pumpkin pieces in syrup · 2 hr 30 min total
Syrup
- 2 lb piloncillo, broken into chunks (or about 6 cups packed dark brown sugar)
- 3 cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick (Mexican canela), 3 to 4 inches long
- Juice of 1 large orange (1/3 to 1/2 cup), plus the rind
Pumpkin
- 1 small pumpkin, 5 to 6 lb (calabaza de Castilla, or a sugar pumpkin)
Method
- Put the piloncillo, water, cinnamon stick, orange juice and orange rind in a large, heavy pot wide enough to hold the pumpkin in one or two layers. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower to medium-low and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the piloncillo has dissolved.
- While the syrup simmers, scrub the pumpkin, cut off the stem, and cut it from top to bottom into wedges 1 to 2 inches wide. You can leave the seeds and strings on; Jinich likes them. Score the skin of each wedge a few times with a paring knife so the syrup can get in.
- Take the pot off the heat and set the wedges in the syrup skin side down. Bring back to a simmer, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, spooning syrup over any pieces that stick out every 15 minutes.
- Uncover and simmer 1 hour more, still spooning syrup over the top, until the pumpkin is deep brown, soaked through and very tender.
- Turn off the heat and let the pumpkin cool in the pot; it keeps absorbing syrup and the syrup thickens as it cools.
- Serve warm, at room temperature or cold, with plenty of syrup. Refrigerate in a covered container for up to about a month (Jinich).
Adapted from Pati Jinich's "Calabaza en Tacha (Candied Pumpkin in Brown Sugar Syrup)", from "Treasures of the Mexican Table" (Mariner Books), as published by WNYC on November 1, 2021, as written. Her recipe says it makes about 4 cups; with a 5 to 6 lb pumpkin we found that hard to square, so the yield above is our estimate by volume and the serving count of 12 is ours. The orange, cinnamon and piloncillo amounts are hers. WNYC. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Jinich serves it cold with crema or crème fraîche, with ricotta, over vanilla ice cream or with yogurt.
- The seeds and strings turn crunchy and sweet in the syrup; the candied orange rind is the cook's treat (Jinich).
- Piloncillo makes the flavor more intense; dark brown sugar works (Jinich).
- Many cooks add whole cloves or star anise to the syrup, and some add guavas or pieces of sugarcane (Excélsior's traditional version).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The name comes from the tacha, a sugar-mill cauldron. Folklore: repeated by food writers (Tasting Table: recipe sites), but we found no historical document behind it.
- It goes back to pre-Hispanic offerings sweetened with maguey sap. Disputed: some food writers say so; others describe it as a colonial dish that needed cane sugar, which arrived with the Spanish.
- Calabaza de Castilla is named after Queen Isabella of Castile. Folklore: a popular story repeated in a UNAM recipe sheet as a common attribution, not documented.
- It is a Day of the Dead food. Documented (Pati Jinich via WNYC; Excélsior).
- Piloncillo beats brown sugar. Folklore: Jinich says piloncillo is more intense but brown sugar works.
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